In autoreverse cassette recorders of this type, when side A of a cassette is reproduced, the direction of transport of the tape is reversed at the moment when the end of the tape is reached so as to enable reproduction of side B of the cassette. In some autoreverse cassette recorders the read heads reading the signals from the tracks of side A are then moved at the same time so that they are positioned above the tracks of side B and are capable of reading the signals from the tracks of side B.
In other autoreverse cassette recorders the read head arrangement has a stationary position and comprises as many heads as there are tracks on the A and B sides of the magnetic record carrier. During the interval in which the direction of transport is changed, a change is also made from reading side A, by means of the n first read heads, to reading side B by means of n second read heads. The read head arrangement is intended to be used in such an autoreverse cassette recorder.
For reading a signal, for example a digital signal, from n adjacent tracks on the record carrier, read heads of the magnetoresistance type usually manufactured in thin-film technology are used, especially where n is much greater than 2.
Thin-film heads of this type are realised on a chip. It is customary nowadays with multi-track thin-film heads to lead the electrical outputs of the heads individually from the chip to the exterior so that then at least 2n+1 outputs on the chip are necessary.